Gary is a 14 year old Lurcher who came to Oldies Club care in March 2024 after one of his owners passed away and the other sadly had to go into care. He had spent 3 months home alone with neighbours popping in the feed him and let him out before we were approached to help him.
When Gary arrived at his foster he had a good look exploring the garden before curling up to sleep. He was quite clingy to begin with which is understandable with the amount of time he has spent alone but over time he has chilled out. The one worrying thing was that he seemed rather skinny even for a sighthound. He was presented with several bed to choose from but decided to follow his fosterer upstairs to sleep on his bed.
The initial vet check confirmed that Gary was grossly underweight (5-6kgs) but with 4 meals a day over the first month in foster, he is slowly starting to get back into shape. As Gary only has three teeth he has to have soft food which he enjoys very much. He is profoundly deaf but can hear if someone claps. He has mild cataract in one eye and a grade 3/4 heart murmur.
Due to Gary’s heart issues Oldies Club made the decision to place him in our sponsor dog scheme. This means he will remain at his lovely foster home on a permanent basis, with the charity paying his vet bills for the rest of his life.
Gary’s fosterer describes him as adorable and cheeky. He enjoys relaxing on the sofa but he loves his comfy bed (by that we mean his fosterers bed)
He loves his short daily walks. Gary walks beautifully on the lead and is fabulous with other dogs, big and small. He has been out to a dog friendly cafe and was very well behaved. Gary is quite a social butterfly.
Gary is quite wily when it comes to food, possibly due to being underfed previously He is able to counter surf and has attempted to open the fridge. His fosterer has to ensure to keep food out of this crafty sighthound’s reach at all times.
This lovely boy is now enjoying his permanent 5-star all-inclusive holiday home. Gary isn’t overly keen on the warm weather but he likes nothing more than relaxing in the sunshine on his very own garden sofa.
If you would love to offer a home to an oldie but your circumstances aren’t suitable, perhaps you would be kind enough to sponsor Gary, or one of the other special oldies we are caring for in our sponsor dog scheme.